Since 1968, The Store has been the platonic ideal of a neighborhood market—locally focused, community-based and appealingly small scale. The Store sells food and drinks from hundreds of local vendors, providing new companies with a platform outside of chain stores. (In pre-pandemic times, sellers manned the aisles with samples of their own products.) This is the kind of place where the staff knows regular customers on a first-name basis and someone is always there to give hints about the best produce to buy.
As grocery delivery becomes the new norm, The Store offers a personal touch that only an independent grocer can provide. Last March, high-risk and elderly customers began calling in their grocery lists over the phone, and The Store’s general managers personally delivered food to their homes. While supply shortages and health risks made the grocery business more challenging than ever this year, The Store thrived by continuing its commitment to local companies. They partnered with Utah restaurants like Pago and Hub & Spoke Diner to sell pre-made dinners, supporting restaurants while the industry fights to survive. In a year when grocery store employees were rightly called essential workers, places like The Store proved why these businesses are so necessary for our communities.
2050 E. 6200 South, Holladay
801-272-1212
90 S. Rio Grande, SLC
385-213-7900
Each year, Salt Lake Magazine editors honor growers, food evangelists, grocers, servers, bakers, chefs, bartenders and restaurateurs with the Blue Plate Awards. A Blue Plate Award is given to an establishment or an individual who has done more than put good food on the table. They’ve created culture, made acts of kindness and education and are paragons of service that goes beyond. To see the full list of winners, click here.
